Syria Opinion: If the Houla Massacre Isn't a Turning Point...

Before the Killings: The Children of Houla

---

p>That sacredness we bestow upon our young makes the murder of these children an even more grotesque act. It makes us rhetorical questions. How can a man, in this case President Bashar al-Assad, and his cronies act so mercilessly, without a shred of humanity kill children like this? How can they subject the parents of these children to such torture? How can these political and military commanders sleep at night? 

The answer has been in front of us for more than a year. They can because they want to.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: After the Houla "Massacre", Another 60 Deaths

A rally in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday night with a message about the Houla "masscare", "These are our martyrs, we will never forget them"

See also Bahrain Live Coverage: Regime on Human Rights "You Are Biased. P.S. We'll Sue You"
Saturday's Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

---

2200 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria say 51 people have died today, including 11 children, four women and six defected soldiers

The toll is likely to increase if the death toll from today's shelling of Hama is as high as feared --- so far the LCCS only claim 25 slain in Hama Province.

2034 GMT: Syria. Activists are reporting on social media tonight that at least thirty people have been killed in regime shelling of Hama.

Opposition sources said the shelling began in the morning on areas near the northern entrance of the city, after a series of insurgent attacks on army roadblocks in the city, and resumed in the evening on the southern al-Malaab district.

Footage has been posted of some of the victims (Warning: Graphic).

Click to read more ...

Syria Opinion: Empty Talk --- The US and Its Allies Have No Strategy to End This Crisis

Protesters in Kafranbel in Idlib Province send a message to President Obama, 16 December 2011

---

What is left as a strategy? Hope. The EU hopes that sanctions will topple the regime. Kofi Annan hopes the observers will end the violence. Obama hopes that Kofi Annan is right. NATO hopes that if then does not work, then Obama will do all the work himself. Saudi Arabia hopes that getting the Syrian insurgents some AK-47s or high-powered sniper rifles will topple the regime. Turkey hopes that refugees will stop flocking across its borders. The whole world hopes that, as the crisis draws on, jihadis, who are loving every minute of this, will not get involved.

The problem? There is absolutely no evidence that any of those hopes will succeed.

Click to read more ...

Syria Live Coverage: Obama Says "Assad Must Go" --- But How?

A Free Syrian Army officer claims the assassination of several top officials of the Assad regime (see 0630 GMT)

See also Algeria Video Feature: The Uprising That Wasn't
Bahrain Live Coverage: Regime Says, "This Protest Good, This Protest Bad"
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Shelling in the Morning, Protests in the Afternoon

---

1626 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claims 28 people have died today, including 19 in Hama Province.

United Nations observers moving through the rubble of Rastan:

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Assad Says, "No Chaos, Please"

1910 GMT: Syria. Away from Aleppo, the news was as ugly as ever in some places. Activists report that several shells fell on Douma, an important suburb of Damascus. According to the LCCS, at least one man was killed by sniper fire, and at least 5 people were killed when shells fell on several homes. A graphic and disturbing video claims to show an entire family dead or dying, being evacuated on a truck after a shell reportedly fell on their home.

1905 GMT: Syria. An amazing picture, from a day to remember, at Aleppo University:

Aleppo University today #Syria twitter.com/KareemLailah/s…

— Ḱ@яℯℯм ℒαḯł@н (@KareemLailah) May 17, 2012

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Elections Amid the Protests

Saturday night in the Damascus suburb of Douma, after the visit of United Nations observers (see 0855 GMT)

Bahrain Live Coverage: Prominent Activist Nabeel Rajab Arrested
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Time to Call It What It Is"

---

2050 GMT: Syria. A protest in Talbiseh tonight:

1940 GMT: Syria. For the first time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with Syrian refugees, speaking to them near the border town of Kilis in southeastern Turkey.

"You are getting stronger each passing day," Erdogan said. "Your victory is not far....Bashar [President Assad] is losing blood each passing day,""

About 23,000 Syrians are estimated to now be in Turkish camps, having fled since the start of the uprising in March 2011.

Click to read more ...

Syria Analysis: Sorting Out The Truth Beyond Car Bombs and Ceasefires

A protest in Sermin in northern Syria on Tuesday night

---

The unanalysed death tolls, the heavily-qualified publishing of conflicting claims, and the overall murky picture leaves the average reader with an inaccurate impression: the situation in Syria is chaotic, truth is unattainable, and there are no real options for resolution. 

Call it disaster fatigue, war fatigue, Middle East fatigue, or confusion fatigue. The likely outcome, after the repetition of days and weeks, is that readers will be left disinterested, tired of hearing about tragedy, and sick of feeling clueless and possibly manipulated.

So, in an effort to avoid this, what do we know about car bombs, death tolls, and ceasefires?

Click to read more ...

Iraq Analysis: Kurdistan's Contest with Prime Minister al-Maliki Heats Up (Van Wilgenburg)

Nuri al-Maliki and Massoud BarzaniIn recent weeks, tensions between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani have been elevated in the media. This is not a just a battle of rhetoric, however --- there are serious issues over oil, disputed territory, the fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq Hashimi, and weapons. Al-Maliki's MPs have accused Barzani of trying to weaken the Iraqi army and seeking to take over Kirkuk by armed force.

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (26 April): A Nuclear Opening from Tehran?

See also The Latest from Iran (25 April): The Economic Challenge Returns

---

1951 GMT: Criticising the Diplomats. What do the "hard-line" Mashregh News and Baztab have against the Foreign Ministry's spokesman Rahim Mehmanparast? Both chide, "Why does he have British nationality and an expensive house there? Where do his kids live?"

1944 GMT: Foreign Affairs (Syrian Front). Al Arabiya claims that Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Tehran Friday Prayer leader and member of the Assembly of Experts, has declared in a speech in Kermanshah that the Islamic Republic "will not allow [Syrian President Bashar] Assad to be toppled".

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (12 April): Strike a Diplomatic Pose

See also Iran Feature: Maya Neyestani --- Challenging Repression Through The Cartoon
The Latest from Iran (11 April): Targeting Ahmadinejad

---

2040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Activist Kouhyar Goudarzi, of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, has been released after 8 1/2 months in detention.

1930 GMT: Reformist Watch. An interesting push by MP Mohammad Reza Khabbaz after the debate among reformists whether to boycott March's Parliamentary system....

Even through the reformists have been reduced to a token group of about a dozen in the Majlis --- and even though reformist parties have been suspended or broken up by the regime --- Khabbaz wants a new effort to work within the system. He has said that they can regroup to engage in political activities for the 2013 Presidential election if former President Mohammad Khatami leads the campaign.

Khabbaz said that Khatami's decision to cast a ballot --- a move criticised by many reformists and activists --- had paved the way for his return to the country’s political stage.

Click to read more ...